Annoying random sound when PC-Doctor monitors system

[chemwiz1]

I recently installed the updated Dell Support Center (DSC) onto my Inspiron 1520 with Win XP(SP3) and ran the included PC Checkup (PCC) powered by PC-Doctor.  Everything went smoothly; however, a little later, I started to notice a random .wav sound (a click followed by a "bubbling" sound like someone pouring liquid out of a bottle) occurring in the background even when DSC/PCC was closed.

I initially thought this sound was related to some malware that recently attacked my PC, but I have run every clean-up tool possible, including several AV programs, Malwarebytes, Trojan Remover, ComboFix, and various bootkit detectors, and all show that my PC is CLEAN.  It was clean before I installed the DSC update.

I have tried an experiment in which I opened DSC/PCC and just let it sit there while I worked on my PC for several hours.  Guess what?  The sound did not occur once.  Shortly after I CLOSED it again, the sound came back and became more frequent when I noodled around in Control Panel\Administrative Tools\Services.  This has led me to believe that the background .wav sound is being caused by PCC's Performance and Configuration History program, which appears to be monitoring my hard drive even when DSC/PCC is closed.

I don't mind that the program is always running in the background, but the sound is very annoying.  Is there any way to disable the sound besides leaving DSC/PCC open all the time?

Thanks so much!

[fwilson]

chemwiz1,

When DSC is closed there are no background processes that are left running, at least they shouldnt be.  There is a daily sync that happens but it is a scheduled task not a background process. 

Have you looked in task manager when the bubbling sound is happening? 
This may give us some indication as to what is going on.

The only sounds DSC makes are in the audio tests.  The bubble sound is either a system sound or from another application.
What theme are you using?
Is the sound you are hearing in it and if so what event is it tied to?

This sounds like a sound tied to a virus scan or some other process.  Let's see if we can track it down.

-Fred

   

[chemwiz1]

Since I made my post, I have figured out that my laptop was infected with the Windows XP Recovery malware, which was likely making the sounds in the background.  I thought I had removed the malware, but I had not.  However, I think that the DSC/PCC that I installed in response to a pop-up window from my System Tray was actually a fake provided to me courtesy of the malware -- that was why the background noises subsided when I had DSC/PCC open.

After many more unsuccessful attempts to track down the offending malware files (they had infected the bootkit), I turned my laptop over to a local computer guy.  I had actually finally found the files using Rootkit Unhooker just before handing my laptop over and probably could have removed them with ComboFix, but the Windows XP Recovery malware is very nasty in that it changes all your settings.  I had no idea how to track down every single setting (including security, firewall, and antivirus program settings) and get it back to what it was supposed to be.  My computer guy said he could do that, so I figured it was well worth it to have him do it.

You might want to warn people that there is a fake version of DSC/PCC out there.  If you search Google with the terms "Dell Support Center Fake," you'll find numerous posts of people installing a fake version of DSC in response to malware-induced pop-up warnings.

[fwilson]

chemwiz1,

Thank you for the update.  I'm glad to hear your system is in good hands.

At some point in time I have found is easier to backup the data and low level format the system and reload the OS. Removing all traces of malware these bozo's create can be difficult, especially when there is multiple infections.

I did some poking around in Google with "Dell Support Center Fake" and did not come up with anything that was really applicable.  If it was updated or installed via a pop up or toast it was most likely introduced by existing malware.  Some scan the system for existing software to trick the user into downloading a more aggressive payload.  If DSC had not been there another program would have popped up. 

I will keep my eyes out though and send this on up the chain for a closer look.  Thank you again for the info.

-Fred

[chemwiz1]

I've solved the problem. My laptop was not clean of the malware, and it was indeed the malware that had sent up the prompts for me to install the fake version of Dell Support Center/PC Doctor. It later sent up prompts for me to update to Adobe Reader 8.0 when I already had Adobe Reader 10 installed!  After a lot of work with a computer tech, the laptop is now completely clean of the malware and the fake Dell Support Center/PC Doctor.  You're right, the malware would have prompted me to install some other "update" if it had not come across my Dell support programs.

The sounds were being caused by my Fujitsu hard drive. Fujitsu hard drives have a history of making random popping sounds "like a ping-pong ball hitting a hard surface" when the system is idle. This problem gets worse with age. It can also be caused by a problem in the file structure that causes the hard drive to keep looking for a nonexistent sector until the arm hits the stops.

The sounds have all but disappeared since the malware was cleaned from my laptop; however, they occur about every 5 min. when the system is idle. I have run Temporary File Cleaner (by Oldtimer), Chkdsk, and a couple of defragmenters. These were responsible for reducing the frequency of the sounds to this latest level. I will wait awhile until my hard drive is more defragmented and run these again. This might cause the sounds to become more infrequent or to disappear.

The only other option would be to reformat my hard drive, which I won't do as it's not worth it to reinstall all my old programs, particularly considering that Windows XP will only be supported through 2014.  I'd be better off with a new laptop.

Thanks for your help!

[fwilson]

chemwiz1,

I'm glad to hear you got it all sorted out.  Tracking down this kind of stuff can be maddening.

Thanks for taking the time to post back and for being a customer.

-Fred